NHL 08 predicts Sharks to win Stanley Cup

With the NHL playoffs starting tomorrow it's time to see which team NHL 08 thinks will win Lord Stanley's cup. This year the simulation says that the San Jose Sharks will win out over the Montreal Canadiens in an epic seven game series. I can certainly see the Sharks winning it all but the game seems to think that the Flyers can take out the red hot Capitals and that Detroit won't collapse like a cheap folding table in the first round. Hit the jump to see the rest of the predictions.

EA SPORTS™ NHL® 08 has predicted that the San Jose Sharks, led by Conn Smythe Trophy Winner Joe Thornton, will come away winners of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final defeating the Montreal Canadiens in seven games. The simulation also offers complete fantasy results for each of the matchups for each playoff round.

The 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs started off with four of the eight match ups going to a deciding seventh game. First round blowouts had Pittsburgh walking over the listless Sens in five games, and Jose Theodore putting up a wall against the Wild to knock off Minnesota in four games.

In the second round, the Penguins blew out the Rangers, while Carey Price’s strong play helped the Montreal slide past Philadelphia in the East. In the West, Detroit solved Theodore to edge out Colorado in seven, while the Sharks beat the Stars in six.

The Eastern Conference Finals proved to be one of the most exciting series of the 2008 playoffs as Saku Koivu’s return helped Montreal edge out Pittsburgh, making Crosby wait another year for his chance at the Cup. It was a different story in the West where San Jose cruised past Detroit, who won the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season, but couldn’t go the distance in the playoffs.

San Jose played spoiler to the Montreal Canadiens storybook ending, with Thornton leading the charge. Montreal staved off a San Jose victory in games 5 and 6 with a good offensive effort from Alex Kovalev, who led the NHL with 24 points throughout of the playoffs. The Sharks came out strong in game 7 with an early 3 goal lead and never looked back to win their first ever Stanley Cup.

PBrush

A simulation is conducted by artificial intelligence or logic of the videogame that uses real-life data from each player. Results are extrapolated by the videogame when two teams match up based on player ratings, line combinations, and include variances such as injuries and hot streaks to give a realistic outcome of a game or series.

Screenshots for this simulation are available on our press website at www.info.ea.com. Find the attached documents for supporting raw data and a breakdown of each series. Should you require anything further, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. My contact information is below.

About NHL:

The EA SPORTS NHL franchise has cornered the hockey videogame market worldwide as the best selling game in class for 10 of the last 11 years. The NHL franchise has consistently been one of the highest rated games in the EA SPORTS portfolio. Now developing its 18th iteration, the EA SPORTS NHL franchise has been a longstanding success, fueled by dedication to innovation and playability year over year. NHL 09 ships to retail in September 2008.